


The Journey of Will Byers

by OTTSTF



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, Jennifer is Will's Snowball partner, Post-Season/Series 02, Reflection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-16
Updated: 2019-01-06
Packaged: 2019-09-20 11:37:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,350
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17021961
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OTTSTF/pseuds/OTTSTF
Summary: Join Will as he talks of his journey, from the day he went missing, right up to this moment in early 1985.The ups, the downs, and all the in-betweens.





	1. The Upside-Down

**Author's Note:**

> So, this is definitely the angstiest piece I've written.  
> It's not _entirely_ angst though - it's a reflection of Will's journey so far; of course it's going to get difficult.
> 
> As you can see by the relationship tags, Will and Jennifer are together. For the sake of this fic and my mental health, Jennifer and **[Snowball Girl]** are the same person. 
> 
> The chapter count may change depending on how much I pack into the next. I plan for it to be three, but it _may_ end up being just two. 
> 
> With all that out of the way, let's actually get to the story itself.

The day had been completely normal. We’d all biked over to Mike’s house, set up in his basement, and played the Dungeons and Dragons campaign that Mike had planned out for that day. The day was no different than any other; we played, laughed, made jokes. A whole ten hours later, the campaign not even completed, Mrs. Wheeler was sending us all home.

As Lucas had a very short journey for his bike ride, it was just Dustin and I, racing our bikes to our split up point. I sped on ahead, leaving Dustin far behind. I’d thought nothing of it; we’d done this so many times before. I shouted back that I’d take an X-Men comic of his, and sped on.

Until something appeared in front of me.  
A human, but not-human shape. It was too tall, too lanky to be human. And the face?  
Well… it didn’t _have_ a face.

I panicked, obviously. I swung my bike to the right, not wanting to get anywhere near what that thing was. I fell onto the dirt, hurt my leg a bit, but I didn’t let that slow me down. I ran. I left my bike there, and ran for home. It wasn’t too far away now anyway.

I got there, and started calling for my mom. No response. I called for Jonathan, no response.  
I couldn’t think straight. I couldn’t hear anything coming, so I looked out the window. I saw it again. It was following me.

I thought of everything. Running back to Mike’s, but that’d be stupid. It would catch me, Mike would probably be trying to sleep by now, and his parents would think I’m an idiot, saying some monster is chasing me.

One thought kept popping up. Something that my dad had trained me to use although I’d never wanted to; a gun. That sight - the lock sliding on its own – is what sent me running for the shed to grab that gun.

I couldn’t stop shaking. I’d fumbled around with it and a bullet, and eventually loaded it. I had it pointed at the door, hoping that it would never come.

It did, but not through the door.  
I heard a noise behind me, and I knew it was there. I didn’t want to look, but I also didn’t understand _how_ it was behind me, so I had to look.

And there it was. Huge and ugly, I knew I should’ve run, but I couldn’t. I was frozen in fear.  
Before I knew it, it’d grabbed me.

  


I don’t know how long I was out of it for, but I woke up with my throat blocked with some kind of liquid that tasted absolutely disgusting. I don’t know how long I spent spitting it out, getting every last bit of it out of me, but eventually I looked up, and I had no idea where I was.

I recognised the place; it was just outside my house. But not really. It was covered in death. Vines, smashed glass, and some sort of floating dust all over the place, and there was this odd humming sound all around me.

None of it made any sense. I called out for someone, anyone. Only my voice echoed through the sky. Nobody else was there.

I went into the house and started looking around. Nothing was right. Everything was destroyed, as if there had been some nuclear war and we’d all abandoned home.

I knew I wasn’t home. I knew this wasn’t our world. I didn’t understand it, but I knew it.

I checked my room, and found my bed wasn’t covered by any of those vine things. So, after really thinking about it, I went to sleep. It wasn’t the same as my bed at home, but it was good enough.

I woke up to a faint sound. At first I didn’t recognise it, but eventually I realised it was my mom. She was calling my name.

I got so excited. She’d finally found me! I ran towards the sound, thinking it was far away, but it wasn’t. It was in the living room. There was a small hole in the wall, but I couldn’t see anything through it.

I walked past the light on the table, and that’s when my mom noticed me. I didn’t know how, but she knew I was in the same room as her. But she was home – I was in whatever messed up world this was.

All too soon, she was gone. So I started looking around. There wasn’t any point staying in my house, or going to school. So I explored, hoping to find something to get me home.

I found nothing. The entire world was the same everywhere; all dead. I didn’t want to believe it, so I went back home and fell back into my bed, wishing for this to be some horrible nightmare that I’d wake from.

Then I heard my mom calling me again.  
The house had changed. She’d strung Christmas lights up. I guessed that this world was mirroring ours; so whatever she did would happen here too. I didn’t understand, but I didn’t care. I knew what she wanted, so I wondered how I could talk to her with the lights.

I opened the small cupboard at the end of the room, and found another string of lights there. So, knowing the affect I had on lights at home, I started jogging around in a circle, hoping that the lights would kind of… point mom towards the cupboard.

I heard her open it, and so I stopped, and went over to where she was.  
She asked me if I was there, so I touched the lights, and I heard her sigh in relief. She knew she was talking to me! I got so excited in that moment; I could tell her where I was, I could get help!

She asked if I could answer with yes or no by pulsing the lights, so I tapped them once again as a yes. Oddly, she asked if I was alive. I understood why; I was nowhere to be seen, talking through lights, but it was still a horrible thing to hear. I tapped the lights to say yes. Then she asked if I was safe.

I was hesitant. I didn’t want to worry her, but I knew I shouldn’t lie. So I tapped them twice, as a no.

The sound that left her lungs, a mix of a gasp and sigh, was heartbreaking. Then she asks where I am; how she can get to me – and that’s when it really hit me.

How am I supposed to explain that with lights?

That realisation was soul crushing. There I was, talking to my mother whilst stuck in another wold, and I couldn’t tell her.

I broke down at that point. I couldn’t even think to touch the lights as a sign I was still there – the panic was too much for me.

  


And so, before I knew it, hours had past.  
I’d had a weird sense a few times, as if someone was by me. But whenever I looked, nobody was there. But, eventually, I heard mom calling me again. This time, the wall was covered in letters and had a new set of lights up. I understood exactly what mom wanted. I could spell out my answers for her on the wall.

So when she asked where I was, the only thing I could think of was essentially the truth:  
R I G H T H E R E

She, of course, didn’t understand.  
I wanted, so desperately, to explain. But I couldn’t. I heard a growl, paired with heavy footsteps in the distance. I knew this thing could somehow get from one world to the other, so I did the only thing that mattered to me. I warned mom. I told her to run, then I ran myself.

The next time I spoke to mom was through our voices. She could finally hear me too. I was so scared, so desperate to break through this small hole that we’d found. I was crying, barely managing to keep my breath stable. But then, it was coming for me again. The thing that took me.

Mom told me to run. I so desperately wanted to just rip at the hole in the wall and make it bigger, but we both knew neither of us could do that.

So, after she’d promised she would find me, I ran. I ran far, but I always ended up coming back close to home. I saw the hole that mom had put through the wall, which made me break down again. How she must’ve felt to just see the outside of our house, not this world, must’ve been hard.

So I went to Castle Byers.  
I went there and tried to stay calm and quiet. It was so cold, I couldn’t stop shaking. I couldn’t breathe straight. All I could think of was how I’d never get home. I’d never see mom or Jonathan, or any of my friends, ever again. I’d starve to death in this world, and my body would never be found.

I didn’t want to fall asleep. I felt as if doing so would be my downfall, whether by not waking up again or being found by the monster.

Then I heard a new voice. A girl’s. She knew my name. I couldn’t move, I didn’t want to. I just begged for them to hurry as she promised that they were coming to get me.

As she goes quiet, footsteps replace her voice. And then suddenly, the wall is smashed. I’m lifted from the ground, and slung across a sharp shoulder.

It’s the monster. It found me, and it has me, and it’s taking me to where-ever it plans.

I try to wiggle free, but I’m too weak, both in physical strength and energy. So eventually I go limp. I’m too tired to keep struggling. I accept that it has me, and I dangle against it’s shoulder like a ragdoll. There’s nothing I can do.

It lays me down, and I look up weakly.  
There it is, standing tall above me, drooling. All I can wonder is why it hasn’t killed me yet; why I haven’t become its food.

I feel a vine reaching across my neck from behind.  
Instinct makes me grab at it, try to pull it off, but it’s far too strong, and I’m far too weak. I could barely keep my arm up, never mind pull this vine off.

I thought it was going to wrap around my neck and strangle me, but then it started climbing up, and a whole new wave of panic hit me. It was going for my mouth.

I did what was obvious – turned my head away whilst keeping my mouth sealed as tight as I could, but nothing worked. It broke through my lips and slipped in, and it was the most disgusting thing I’d ever tasted or felt.

This was when I really accepted it.  
This, right here, is how I am going to die. Suffocation. The vine has travelled down my throat and air is impossible to get. That’s another horrible feeling; when you’re trying to breathe, but just _can’t_.

I knew, that without any food or water ever since I arrived in this world, that the lack of oxygen would lead to unconsciousness very fast.

I felt it coming. I started feeling faint, and my thoughts were becoming less straight. I knew, in a few seconds, I’d be gone. Dead for this world to use me how it pleaded.

I’m scared. So very scared. I wished, for one last moment, that I could somehow be found. That mom would come from the distance, yank this thing from my throat, and take me home. But I knew that was impossible.

The last drops of water left in me started flooding out through my eyes. If it weren’t for the vine stuck down my throat, I’d be sobbing, hyperventilating.

My vision begins to go dark. I know this is finally it. I just hope it’s similar to falling asleep – you don’t notice it happen.

This is it. This is my death.  
I’m sorry, mom. I failed you.

  


  


  


  


  


  


  


  


  


  


Awake. Air. Light. Sound.  
 **I'm awake!**

Mom. Chief Hopper. Me. I’m gasping for air, getting as much into my lungs as I can. Mom found me. She kept her promise, and she’d found me.

Hopper gives me his mask.  
Normally I would want to refuse it. I’d say that he needed it more, as I’ve had days to get used to this climate. But I’m too weak. I can’t talk. All I care about is filling myself with the oxygen this mask now provides.

Hopper picks me up, and starts taking me to where they came from. Another hole; big enough for us to fit through. Mom starts tearing the fleshy substance open, before Hopper practically shoves her and himself – with me – through it.

Home. We’re home.  
Not _home,_ but home. I’m alive. I’m free from that world, and that _thing_.

Before I know it, I’m in hospital, on a bed, and everyone’s surrounding me, cheering my name, excited to see me as I am to see them.

They’re bombarding me with information.  
About what they did as soon as they’d found out I went missing. How they found a girl with a shaved head and superpowers whilst trying to find me. A girl that helped them find me.  
Evil people, from an evil lab. An evil lab that held this girl captive, and was the blame for the world I was taken to.

I couldn’t help but notice Mike. He was happy, but hidden behind his smiles was a sadness that I’d never seen in him before.

I didn’t mention it then. I couldn’t if I’d wanted to; the others wouldn’t give either of us two seconds to talk.

Not that I wanted to.  
I was just glad to be home. I was glad to be hearing their voices piling over each-other.

I was happy.


	2. The Spy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Season two, from spitting out a slug, to the Snowball.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> God-everliving-damnit I am so TERRIBLE at updating things.  
> I'd thought I'd get these chapters done within weeks of each-other. HAH, good joke!
> 
> I'm sorry, honestly.

Will is trying his best.

He’s trying _really_ hard to not let his issues show. He doesn’t want to worry the others, especially not Mike, considering he has his own issues (which he is also trying to hide).

But Will can’t help but be scared. He threw up a freaking slug, for god’s sake. And to make it worse, anyone who knows what he’s been through will know that it’s not just any old slug. No. _It’s from the Upside-Down._ And he’s let it loose.

He can’t stay focussed on that. The amount of… flashbacks? Visions? He doesn’t know what they are. The amount of _episodes_ he’s having where he suddenly finds himself in the Upside-Down is increasing with each month, and it’s starting to really play on his mood. He’s scared, angry, and most of all, it’s putting him into a depression that he can’t climb out of.

Which is why he understands completely, when Mike breaks down into tears over El.  
They’d been talking about her – Will wants to know as much about her as possible, and so Mike tries his best every now and then to talk of her, to describe who she was, what she could do, and what she _did_ do to help them last year.

Will really wishes he could’ve met her. She sounds amazing, not only because of her abilities, but the type of person she is. Completely selfless, and managing to wear a smile despite everything she’d been through. She seems like she would’ve fit into the party perfectly, and Will feels beyond upset that he’d never gotten the opportunity to meet her.

And when Mike breaks down one day, unable to hold in his distress over the loss, Will just holds him. Mike lets it all out – how angry he is, how depressed he is, how he doesn’t want to live in a world that allows such things to happen to the most innocent people before taking them away. And, as much as Will understands, he does his best to help Mike through, to keep any stupid _harmful_ thoughts at bay.

And Mike does the same for him. When the visions get too much for Will, he breaks down and Mike holds him.

The others – Lucas and Dustin – they understand. Of course they do; but they’re doing a _much_ better job at hiding it. Sometimes, Mike’s looked at them and wondered if they even care about the loss of El, to which Dustin will always respond with “of course we do. You were just a lot moe attached to her than we were, and we understand that.”

This keeps going on for the length of the year. Normal times that Will would be happy, he can’t be. He’s getting no sleep, and he’s finding it harder every day to hide his depression.

Max comes along, and sure, he’s interested, but he knows full well Mike’s going to hate it. Will isn’t nearly as interested as the other two, so when the girl shows up on Halloween and he has another vision, he’s happy when just Mike and himself retreat back to the former’s basement. More talks, they both reveal more about each-other’s pain. Mike’s seeing her, hearing her, feeling her, and thinks he’s going insane. That’s exactly how Will feels, and so if either of them are going crazy, they’re going crazy together.

Bob finds out about his visions, and does his best to help. He describes his childhood nightmares of “Mr. Baldo” and – to Will’s relief, he starts to think that maybe some of what he’s going through _isn’t_ completely insane. Sure, Bob’s completely missed the fact that these are visions during the day, not just nightmares. But fighting your fears; that’s a term he’s heard before. Will decides he’ll try this the next time he finds himself staring into the face of whatever that big cloud of doom is.

Except, when he does, it doesn’t listen. It does nothing; he can nearly hear the thing laugh at him. And before he knows it, he’s engulfed in the strands of smoke, running through his entire body, taking him over.

It was that moment that Will Byers changed. At this point, he’d slowly started being phased out of his own body, with the monster’s conscience was taking over.  Visions became constant, and from multiple places. Tunnels, the Upside-Down,  _too much._

He also felt a  _constant_ need for cold temperature. Heat actually started hurting, and when he’d shouted at his own  _mother_ that “ _he_ likes it cold” Will really knew he was gone.

  


Heat. That’s all Will can feel. He knows nothing is touching him; the scientists had gone into the tunnels with those flame throwers; they weren’t attacking  _him._ Yet they were. He could feel every bit of the flames, and it was  _killing_ him. 

The pain was too much. He’d passed out whilst Mike had screamed for help.  
Will had truly thought he was going to die like this, but apparently not.  
He awakens in a hospital.  _No._ Not a hospital. The lab. He recognises some of these faces.  _Some_ . Apparently not enough by the looks of these faces. He sees mom, he sees Mike, but beyond that, he really can’t recognise anybody, and by the looks on their faces, he guesses he  _should_ .

When they start burning the slither of vine, and he feels it, Will feels many things. Fear,  confusion, disgust, distress.

He couldn’t stop seeing the tunnels. All this talk of  _hive mind_ and  _superorganism_ rushing through his mind  was making his head spin, and soon enough, he found himself no longer in control. He didn’t even recognise his own  _mother._ He’d sent those soldiers to their deaths, and couldn’t do anything to fix it.

Internally, against the reaction of his body, Will was pleased when they’d decided to put him to sleep. He understood their intentions – they needed to prevent the Mind Flayer from knowing their whereabouts and intentions. 

  


When he woke up, he truly didn’t know where he was. Lights, bright in his face hurting his eyes,  walls covered in sheets. Will was truly scared, despite understanding their intentions. They wanted to help him fight his way back to the surface, but they couldn’t let the Mind Flayer know where they were.

Using memories from his life, they help Will get enough control of his body to tap out a message without the Mind Flayer noticing. He’d told them all he knew: Close the gate. And Will also knew what it’d do.

Yes, he was scared. He knew that the gate’s closure would disconnect the Mind Flayer from the Demo-Dogs and himself, and yes,  he knew that it would result in their death. He also had a feeling that it could kill  _him_ off too.

Yes, he was scared.  He was petrified.  _Of course he was._ The only way to defeat the Mind Flayer was to close the gate, and that had a high chance of killing  _him_ too. Will would break down in a mix of sobs and screams if he could.

He’s soon scared of something else entirely, though: The sound of a phone ringing.  
Not only that, but he recognises that ring. He knows where he is. And he failed to hide that discovery from the Mind Flayer.

They’re coming.  _He’s_ sent them. We need to move.

And to his relief, the others know that too. So whilst the Mind Flayer complains of his knocking out again, Will is thankful, and hopes that the next time he awakens -  _if he awakens_ \- will be a much more secluded place.

  


And a much better place it is. Will can tell they’ve not modified this place at all, yet he has no idea where he is. He also realises he’s awakened to heat. Roaring, painful heat.

But the screams aren’t his. If Will had control, he’d be cheering them on. Yes, mom. Turn those heaters up. Damnit, Jonathan, man up and let me cook for a bit. I feel the Mind Flayer’s pain and it is  _working._

This is the first time Will feels hope in a  _very_ long time. If they can make the Mind Flayer so uncomfortable that he leaves his body before El closes the gate, he might actually make it through this bullshit alive. That would be a  _fantastic_ bonus.

He watches in fear as the Mind Flayer uses his hand to strangle his mother, and he tries everything he can to get enough control to stop it, but he can’t. He is entirely a prisoner in his own body at this point – he has no control at all. No choice but to watch whilst the Mind Flayer uses his body as a puppet.

Then he feels another whole load of heat against his chest and the hand is released. He doesn’t care how much pain they put him through or how much damage they cause to his body – as long as they get this asshole out of him, he’s happy.

And sure enough, soon, he’s watching a cloud of smoke fill the air above him as it leaves his body.  _The Mind Flayer_ , or at least a chunk of it, rushing out of his body as it becomes far too uninhabitable for it.  _Good riddance._

He passes out for a moment, but soon awakens to his mother by his side, with Jonathan right behind her, and Nancy watching from a distance. Joyce and Jonathan are hugging him tight as he comes around, and soon enough, with tears streaming down her smiling face, Nancy has to join in. He’s alive, he’s safe. They saved him. And soon, they’re telling Hopper and El to close the gate.

  


  


He awakens at home, in his own room, in his own bed. His head is pounding, and his body feels  so  sore  that  he can’t move. His mother startles by his side, and he notices he’s surrounded by the sleeping bodies of  _nearly_ the entire party. Mike is nowhere to be seen, although he’s sure he understands where Mike is. Will feels happy for Mike; finally getting to see El again for the first time in near-enough a year.

“Will! Honey, are you okay?” he hears whispered from his mother. The simple question puts a huge smile on his face because, for the first time in this entire year, he can nod his head, let out a quiet “yes” and truly mean it. He’s alive, he’s safe, and he’s happy.  
“I’m great, mom.”

  


Christmas is rapidly approaching, but before that, the Snowball. He really doesn’t know why any of them are going.

Okay, sure, Lucas and Dustin have Max to meet, but Mike’s highly doubtful that El will show, and Will himself definitely has nothing to look forward to. Max can’t dance with  _two_ people, so one of them’s going to be left disappointed, Mike’s going to be sat there depressed if El doesn’t show, and Will’s just going to feel awkward in a crowd of people that refer to him as Zombie Boy. He kind of hopes that they’ll just ignore his presence and let them get on with the day.

They’re there now, in the school hall, with loud music to dance to and decorations that could last a lifetime. Smiles are on everyone’s faces, even the party’s, as they walk through the hall and find themselves an empty table.

Lucas stumbles his way through asking Max to dance, and the smile on his face is infectious.  Then he catches sight of Dustin, and the disappointment in his face is very clear. He doesn’t let that put him down, though - wearing a confident face, Dustin goes on a journey to find himself a dance partner.

That leaves just himself and Mike at the table, watching on in silence, before a voice breaks it.  
“Hey, Zombie Boy.”

Will spins so suddenly that he could’ve given himself whiplash. He’s not bothered by the nickname because that voice-

“Wanna dance?”

-That voice is a voice he’d recognise from anywhere.

Jennifer Hayes.

Did she just-

She just-

She just asked me to dance?

Am I… is this real?

“I uh…”

He feels Mike’s arm  _literally_ nudging him, and as annoying as he feels it should be, he appreciates it, because after stumbling through his words, and despite feeling like his heart is going to explode or his face is going to melt, he accepts.

Before he knows it, he’s dancing with her. Making sure to not land his feet on top of hers and ruin everything, he’s swaying slowly to the music with none other than Jennifer Hayes. He’d always thought of her as far to popular to even acknowledge his existence. How on  _Earth_ did this happen?

He doesn’t know, but he’s glad it did, because this… this right here, is the best he’s felt in his entire life.

In the corner of his eye, he sees Mike suddenly jump to his feet, staring off towards the door. Shifting his sight over to there, he’s overjoyed to see El there, staring right back at Mike as they slowly close the distance between each-other. Will’s well beyond happy for them both. This is exactly what they both need. No more monsters, no more government conspiracies, just time to relish each-other’s company.

In the other corner of his eye, he catches Dustin being pulled by-  _Nancy?_   
He won’t ask. He has a vague idea, and the respect he has for her is multiplied many times.

Reflecting on it, this sums up the most perfect result the day could’ve brought them. They’re all dancing with someone, even himself with Jennifer. He keeps eyes on the others, and sees Max take the plunge and kiss Lucas, and he finds himself impressed. Then, Mike leaning in to kiss El, and he’s both impressed and happy, understanding it more between them. And as much as he’d love to do the same with Jennifer, wondering what it would feel like, he knows full well it’s far too early for that.

So he relishes in the pure bliss that this day has brought him.

He is happy, and that happiness shall remain for the foreseeable future.

It’s about time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you've probably figured out - for the sake of this story, the girl who asked Will to dance is Jennifer Hayes. This just saves me time trying to figure a name (which I'm terrible at) and also allows me to play with other things, such as her crying at Will's "funeral" (wink wink, hint hint).
> 
> I'm starting on chapter three the second I post this. I am _not_ letting it go as long as this one did.  
> (If I do, please, seriously, scream at me. Slap me. Punch me until it's done. I _hate_ how long I leave things).
> 
> Thanks as always, you beautiful people. <3


	3. More Than Good Enough

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Post-S2.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that's the most I've written in a day.  
> Also the fastest I've ever written.

If there’s one issue Will’s had all his life, it’s his self-doubt. It’s always been a factor of him, but even more so ever since the happenings of the Upside-Down.

He couldn’t out-run the Demogorgon. He let the Mind-Flayer possess him because he thought telling it to “go away” might’ve worked. How stupid could he have been?

And now he’s got a girlfriend. _A girlfriend. Will._ How? Why? Does she not realise how weak he is?

He has one of these episodes in front of her, crying as he insists that she should leave him, she should find someone who’s strong enough to defend her, not somebody who’s arm would snap should he try laying a fist into someone.

Jennifer refuses to hear any of it. She insists that if that were a bother to her, she never would’ve asked him to dance at the Snowball. She tells him how she’d wanted to ask him out for a while longer, how every utter of the name “Zombie Boy” would turn her stomach (she’d apologised thoroughly, multiple times, for calling him this at the Snowball. She didn’t know why she’d done so, but she’d regretted it immediately. Will shook it off, told her it was fine, but it still played a guilt on her).

Will continues to insist that he’s too weak for her. He couldn’t defend her if the need arose, and whenever she asks what he’d ever need to defend her from, he stumbles, suggesting things like bullies, but she can see he’s hiding something deep within.

She works on getting it out of him, wanting to know what could make him feel this way all the time. If she can help fix it, she wants to.

It takes time, but she gets through. He hesitantly begins talking of the night he went missing; how it wasn’t just a case of being lost in the woods. He tells her of the monsters, the Upside-Down, his short period of death before his mother and chief Hopper had found him.

He talks of the Demo-Dog that had grown inside him, to be spat out into his sink. His visions, soon to become full possession and eventual imprisonment inside his own body. He mentions how he’d thought he was going to die that way, once the gate was closed, but his mother, Jonathan and Nancy had figured out the heat solution to essentially exorcise him.

That is why he is weak. He’s always the victim, always the one who needs saving, and he does not want to become a burden for her.

Through all of this, he wasn’t looking at Jennifer. He had his head down, eyes closed, arms I his lap as he struggled through the memories. When he looks up, he finds Jennifer’s face red, soaked with bloodshot eyes. It kills him to see – this is the first time he’s ever seen her cry. He doesn’t manage to ask her if she’s okay before she slowly edges her way forward and wraps her arms around him, holding tight as she lets herself sob in response to his story.

“I’m sorry, Jen.” he says as he holds her back, starting to feel his own tears begin to fall in response to hers.  
“I wanted to tell you, but I just… didn’t know how, or when.”

He feels his heart pounding, worried about what might happen now that she knows the truth. Will she run away in fear? Will she realise that he really _is_ too weak for her? Or, are these tears from the thought that Will would forge up an entire alternate universe in story to try and break away from her? The latter plays in his mind the most, and he wouldn’t blame her, but he so seriously hopes not because he would honestly rather pry his own eyes out than ever do such a thing to her.

After a while, her tears slow, she regains control of her voice, and so, she resumes what she’d been doing before: Insisting that Will is the strongest person she knows.

“You’ve been through all that, yet you still manage to shine the brightest smile I’ve ever seen.” she tells him. “You still have the most cute and infectious laugh, and you still know how to make every single day of mine better just by being there.”

The words play with his heart, his stomach doesn’t know what its doing, yet his brain still manages to insist that she’s just saying these things.

“Will, I know you wouldn’t lie to me about this.” she says. “Friends don’t lie. Boyfriends or girlfriends? Definitely not.”

The term, boyfriend or girlfriend, still gets his heart beating faster every time he hears it.

“But like I was saying… if you needed my help, I’m too weak.” he reminds her. “And… do you really want to be with someone who’s been to another world, had a slimey vine down his throat, and incubated a freaking alien?”

“Will.” she holds his shoulders, her arms stretched out slightly from her position in front of him.  
“All those things, they make you the most powerful person out of all of us.”

“I doubt I’m more powerful than El…” he manages to joke, earning a small smirk from Jennifer.

“She’s awesome in her own right, sure.” she admits. “But you? I’ve told you already. You’ve gone through all this but you don’t let it get to you. You still make every day worth waking up for. You’re my first thought and my last, Will.”

He’s smiling wide, letting tears slide, but she can still see some disbelief in his eyes.

So, she gives in.

She’d wanted to save this for a much better time, a much happier moment. But she accepts that if this is what will get him to _really_ believe her, it’ll be worth it.

So, she leans in, closing her eyes, and before Will can even properly process what’s happening, their lips are joined.

He’s sure that he’s about to die of a heart attack. That’s what this feeling is, right?  
It’s such an amazing feeling, yet he feels like he’s going to explode.

He can’t even begin to kiss back – not that he’d really know how to – before she pulls off, and their eyes connect.

They’re staring into each-other; Jennifer looking anxious as to what his response will be for a moment, but the surprised look on Will’s face tells her that all is okay.

So, she begins to talk.

“Does that tell you how much I care for you, Will?” she asks.  
Will can’t respond – he’s far too shocked, he can’t think straight.  
And in response to this, her next words _really_ set his heart alight:

“I love you, Will.”

His eyes are wide, he can’t believe his ears, and his chest feels all sorts of things.  
He doesn’t know how to respond, but instinct takes in, and their second kiss is initiated by him.

This one is nearly _desperate,_ like a way for him to tell her just how much she truly means to him, also. Many words, unspoken, all filter through this kiss, and when they finally break it, they don’t take two seconds before they fall against each-other, hugging so tightly with their heads against each-other’s shoulders, Will’s eyes leaking fast with tears of joy.

The smirk on his face is so wide that his cheek muscles hurt, and his chest feels like it’s taken up a gymnast role, but he’s so, _so_ happy, so relieved, so excited for the future – _their_ future, together.

“I love you too, Jen.” he mumbles against her shoulder through an excited laugh, before lifting his head, pulling away ever so slightly so that they can look each-other in the eyes again.

“I love you so, so much.” he tells her. “You’ve made every day since the Snowball so much better than they used to be. You help me forget everything I’ve been through. You help me live life the best I can. I can’t even explain how much you mean to me.”

He’s shaking out of happiness and excitement. His words plaster a smile on her face, and she lets out a small laugh of happiness of her own.

“You do exactly the same for me, Will. Days are so much better ever since we started dating. Your infectious smile, your cute laugh; all of it makes every day worth waking up for.”

He can’t even begin to explain what he’s feeling. So, in lack of any other response, he leans his forehead towards her, and with her doing the same, their heads lean against each-other.

“I love you so much, Jen.” he tells her again.

“I love you too, Will. So much. And I’ll always be here for you, okay? Through light and dark. Whenever you’re feeling down like you were just now, I’ll be there for you.”

“Thank you.” he sighs. “Thank you, Jen. And I’ll be here for you, too.”

“I know, Will.” she smiles. “Because you’re the strongest person I know.”

  


 

* * *

  


  


His life may have taken a dark turn in the November of 1983, but in the end, it all brought him to this point:

Five best friends, one of which being a superhero. But most of all: Jennifer. A girlfriend (holy shit) that’s loyal to the end of time. She helps him through everything, whether it’s a normal episode of feeling weak, a PTSD flashback, or anything else, no matter how difficult for either of them.

She’s the best thing life has ever brought him, and so he wouldn’t change any of it for the world.

His life may have taken a dark turn in the November of 1983, but now?  
He’s living the best life he could’ve wished for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well holy damn, ladies and gents. We're done.
> 
> Please _please_ **please** give me your feedback for this one. This was one huge-ass experiment for me, so I'd love to know your thoughts and feedback. What did you like? What did you dislike? Should I do this again? Or should I just quit writing whilst I still can? (I can't. Don't bother asking me to).
> 
> Either way, I love you all. Thank you so much for being here.

**Author's Note:**

> Thoughts so far?  
> This is my first time doing reflection to this scale, and also my first time writing in the first-person. It feels oddly natural, hopping inside the head of these guys, so I'm quite happy with how it worked out, personally. But, you're the reader - your opinions are more important.  
> So that said, please share them!
> 
> Thanks. <3


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